WBZ-TV’s Steve Burton’s regular beat is sports, so he was going a little out out on a limb when he volunteered to hold a small alligator as part of a segment with wildlife expert Michael Ralbovsky.

Accounts differ on why the gator started wilding out when he did, causing Burton to lose all chill. Ralbovsky told the Huffington Post that the gator was just sick of being manhandled, which we get: “That clip doesn’t show the whole thing,” he explained. “It was a segment lasting five or 10 minutes and the gator didn’t wanted to be held anymore.”

But CBS Boston theorized that the gator saw a crocodile, also onstage for the segment, and was duly upset by the other animal.

Either way, Burton was sufficiently traumatized by the incident, writing “my life flashed before my eyes,” on Twitter. Of course, the gator’s mouth was taped shut, but that still leaves four claws and a tail capable of inflicting damage.